malai kofta recipe, how to make malai kofta | malai kofta curry

malai kofta recipe with step by step photos. malai kofta is a popular as well as most sought after vegetarian indian dish in restaurants.

malai means cream and kofta are fried dumpling balls. usually they are made up of mashed potatoes-veggies, with or without grated paneer. other kofta gravy recipes on the blog are cabbage kofta curryandlauki kofta recipe.

in this malai kofta recipe the koftas are made with potatoes and paneer. these melt in the mouth koftas are dunked in a creamy, sweet and mildly spiced curry.

to make any paneer dish its always better to make paneer at home. if you have time then check this method to make paneer at stove top. or if you are in hurry then you can also make paneer in microwave. i personally prefer the stove top method of making paneer as its more healthy than making paneer in microwave.

there are many variations of themalai kofta curryrecipe. here the curry is made from ground cashew paste, onion paste and tomato puree. i have not used cream in this recipe. for the garnish you can use cream if you prefer.

the cashew paste, makes the curry creamy, so need to add cream. you can also use soaked almonds instead of cashews or both soaked almonds and cashews.

i have already shared thealoo paneer kofta recipe just a few days back. you can make stuffed koftas they way i made them for snacks or make them the way i have shown here. in this version, the koftas are not stuffed with dry fruits.

the gravy or curry can be kept white or colored red or brown by using spice powders and tomato puree. both ways the malai kofta tastes good.

the recipe below will make 6-7 koftas with a curry for 3-4 people. let me tell you that malai kofta is a heavy meal. so even 2 koftas would be enough per serving.

long time back i had come across an interesting youtube video by chef harpal sokhi on malai kofta. i had then decided than whenever i write a post on malai kofta recipe, i will share chef’s video on the post. so here it is. i have not tried this version, but just looking at the ingredients and the way chef is making them, i am sure the malai kofta curry is bound to be good.

11. stir and saute till till the oil starts to leave the side of the masala paste. this will take approx 9-10 minutes on a low flame.

12. add water and stir. simmer till the gravy becomes thick and creamy. malai kofta gravy is usually smooth, creamy and slightly thick. you can keep it medium consistency also… they way i have done.

13. add crushed kasuri methi and salt. simmer for 1-2 minutes more.

14. lastly add the fried koftas. if serving malai kofta later, you can just prepare the gravy and add koftas while serving. these koftas are really soft. so if you add them before and serve them later, they will break. since i was serving immediately, i added them to the gravy.

1. Make sure you make a proper paste of cahew/almonds as they dont look very good raw in mouth
2. For making tomato puree, boil tomoatoes and then peel them off. Or else the skin comes in your mouth
3. In the kofta mix, i added some dry roasted spinach and cabbage (optional)

Very good recipe and I tried this, it turned out fine. But only problem I faced frying the koftas they were breaking up while frying. Khoya and Paneer got scattered in the pan. Could you suggest why it might have happened? Is it because quantity of potato should be more? Please suggest!

I tried this recipe…and my family just loved it. I too kept licking my fingers. Although i have a question about ur veg biriyani recipe.
The place where i live its difficult to find dried star anise, is there any replacement? Or can i omit it?

Mine were a bit bland. I did not put the fenugreek leaves, it does makes a difference in the result?
I was wondering if the potatoes i used were to big in proportion with the amount of cheese. When i fried them they hold together.
And the garam masala i used was the one from the store because i don’t black
Cardamoms and jayitri.
If i omit the chillies because spicy food irritates my stomach (i have IBS) would change the result in the recipe?

the recipe is not bland. did you omit the red chili powder. also did you skip the whole garam masala spices and just added garam masala powder. its very not clear from your comment. when store brought garam masala is added, you need to add more as they are not strongly flavored like homemade ones. when using store brought garam masala you can easily use from 1/2 to 1 tsp. fenugreek leaves do give a nice flavor to the dish. omitting chilies in any recipe will change the final result.

the sticking was as the oil was not hot enough or the kadai or pan was not seasoned well (meaning used often for frying). thats also the reason the koftas were raw from inside as they did not cook well enough. just pan fry them like aloo tikkis instead of deep frying the. that should solve the problem.

Hi, i just tried this recipe…. Awsm. Love the clarity of instructions nd ingredients explained… I will be following this site for my recipes. Cant believe malai koftas are so easy to cook…… Thanks dassana…. U r the best.

thanks. you will have to heat the milk. once it cools, collect the malai or cream floating on top in a bowl or box and keep in the freezer. collect the floating cream every time when you get fresh milk. use your own mathematics and when you get a good bowl of malai. defrost it for some hours. then add in a blender or stand mixer. whip up till the malai becomes smooth and flowing. collect this cream in a bowl and refrigerate.

Hi Dassana! I have tried quite a variety of the recipes you have posted here. Cabbage matar Sabzi, stuffed Simla mirch, gobhi ke danthal ki Sabzi, mint yoghurt chutney, garlic naan, Achari paneer tikka, Kashmiri dum aloo to name a few. But malai kofta was the best and was polished off by my family in no time. All thanks to you!
PS: Can you also include a recipe for banana stem?

Wow..mouth watering recipe..m gonna try this tonight..can you pls share a recipe with lotus root also..was searching for it as well…this site has really developed my interest in cooking..all thanks to you dear…

You have a lovely blog. The recipes are very well explained which makes it really easy to follow. I had tried this recipe earlier and it came out absolutely yum, today i made the gravy with boiled onion paste and that tasted very good too. do try it with boiled onions and let me know how you liked it.

I tried this recipe and wasn’t able to fry the kofta as they kept sinking to the bottom of the fry pan (non stick fry pan) and would stick to the bottom and break apart with the cottage cheese and potato burning eventually. Could you suggest another way to fry the kofta? Also can we use almond paste instead of cashew paste in the gravy ?

hi shivani, this is because the oil was not hot. if the oil was hot, the koftas would come up on top of the oil and frying would be easy. i am not sure which shape of pan you used, but fir frying kofta, kadai works best. another way would be to fry them like tikkis or patties. just flatten them and shallow fry them. but here too make sure the oil is hot. you can also pan fry the tikkis or patties with 1 or 2 tbsp oil and this will give a make it more healthy as less oil is used up. but the texture will not be crisp all over. yes, you can add almond paste instead of cashew paste.

Thank you so much for publishing this recipe. Your instructions were so clear and precise it made an intimidating recipe easy-peasy! I tried this recipe for the first time and the compliments poured in left, right and centre. Thank you!

Hi Dassana
I love your recipes and frequently visit your website. I tried this recipe but it turned out a bit bitter. I had put sugar as well but I must admit I didn’t measure the ingredients exactly for the masala. What could have gone wrong?

hi monika, there is no ingredient which is bitter in the recipe, except kasuri methi. but kasuri methi also has a faint bitterness and added for its aroma. so i can only rule out kasuri methi. perhaps you must have added an extra quantity and thats why the gravy was a bit bitter.

Thanks for the fantastic recipe. As others did, I ended up throwing some cashews and raisins into the Koftas and it worked magnificently.

You did an excellent job laying out an intimidating recipe and making it approachable and pointing out potential variations. It’s incredibly rare that I try a recipe I find online and it works the first time. Great job.

Hey the veg is so so yummy but there is a problem my hubby want this veg in tiffin so what should I do I mean should I put gravy and koftas separately or mixed…
If I place them mixed koftas will become extra soft ???

Thanks! You made it easy.
I tried the recipe with a few tweaks.
In the kaju paste I added some melon seeds and poppy seeds.
Net result, my husband said tasted as good as restaurant wale! Infact he said even better because i didn’t make it sweet.
thanks a lot, saved many a meal with your recipes.

I made this recipe and the taste was really very good. I loved specially the gravy of the curry. I have one question in my mind.. does the magic bulet works good to grind whole spices into powder form?

ohh its realy amazing…i tried it.my daughtr loved it.wel nw we shudnt need to go at out to hv dis.dassana u make it easy..wel if i wil try seeds rather dan cashew for paste..then wud it make any diffrnce in taste?
my daughter love sugery taste..can i use raisin in it?
anyways…thnks a lot

there are basically two ways for making tomato puree. in this recipe, i have just chopped the tomatoes and blended them to make smooth puree. you can blend the tomatoes in an electric blender or even in a mixer-grinder. also hand held blender can be used. no need to add water while making the tomato puree. other way is to blanch the tomatoes and then make the puree. 2 to 3 medium tomatoes will give about 3/4 to 1 cup tomato puree.

its realy awsome…my daughter lovd it…i was thinking like paneer kofta cnt make at home…its time consuming and complicated.bt dassana u made it easy.
thank u sooo much.nw i can enjoy paneer at home easy.

made with fresh whole tomatoes. not the ones that come in a can. soak the cashews in hot water for 30 mins or in normal water for 2 hours. drain the cashews and then blend adding little water to a smooth paste.

instead of paneer, you can use extra firm silken tofu. i think the texture of this tofu would go well. may be for binding you might need to add some more corn starch so that the koftas don’t break in oil. you can also skip them altogether. just make the kofta with mashed potatoes, almond flour or ground almonds, corn starch or rice flour (for binding) and stuff them with chopped cashews and raisins.

I recently tried malai kofta and absolutely loved it. This recipe looks so good, I will need to make it one day for everyone at home. I’m allergic to nuts however, do you have any recommendations for substitutes for the cashew paste, or can I just not add it in without it making too much of a difference?

thanks aleisha for the feedback. as a substitute, you can use dried melon seeds (either musk melon or water melon seeds). we generally use these seeds in indian cooking along with either cashew or almond paste. the melon seed paste help to thicken the gravy as well give their flavor. the taste will be different though as cashews are not added.

Hello,
My husband and I are so looking forward to trying this recipe today! We got all the ingredients and are looking at the instructions. We noticed that in the ingredients list, the sauce calls for tomato paste, but the instructions call for tomato puree. Can you please clarify which should be used? Tomato paste and puree taste very differently. We bought tomato paste per the ingredients list, but looking at your picture, it appears we should have bought puree?
Thank you!

delphine, actually its tomato puree. i have used both the words interchangeably. thanks for pointing out. i know in abroad tomato puree is different from tomato paste but in india, we use both these words for puree. have changed the word paste to puree.

We made it last night with the puree and it was divine! I’ve been searching for a good malai kofta recipe for decades with no luck. This is just what I was looking for! Thank you! We liked it so much, we linked to your website from our blog: http://veggieturkeys.com/.
P.S. Also made your suji halwa recipe last night and that was delish too!

use besan instead of corn flour. first roast the besan in a small pan till its raw aroma goes away and then add it to the potato mixture. you can use any good brand of corn flour. i use either brown & polson or rex.

thank u so much for the reply…..will incorporate these changes nxt time….one more thing…..i tried to shallow fry them wid enuf oil…..however they stuck the to bottom the moment i put it in n thts why they fell apart….they stuck bad….any tip?

n yeah forgot to mention…..luv ur blog….easy way of cooking….thank u so much….:-)

okay. they stuck and thats why they broke. what kadai you use. nonstick or a thick bottomed iron or aluminium kadai. generally when frying, the kadai as well as the oil has to be hot. what i have observed is that if i don’t use a particular kadai for frying at all or use it for making sabzis or roasting etc, then when i fry in it, the pakoras sometimes get stuck. so usually i stick to one kadai for deep or shallow frying.

to get the smoothness you have to mix and mash the kofta mixture really well. did they break after adding the gravy or before. if before, then that means the mixture has not binded well. depends upon the quality of paneer and potatoes. so some extra cornflour added would have not allowed the koftas to break while frying. and if after when you added them to the gravy, then they have to be added just before serving. if the koftas are immersed in the gravy, then they absorb the gravy and break.

I really love your recipies. I love cooking but dont get a lot of time to do so. But i really enjoy your recipies as they are so easy & quick & come out very well, just the way u describe them. My son love s kofta..got to try this one.

Hi! This looks AMAZING! I can’t wait to try it. Malai kofta is one of my favourite foods ever so I would love to make it.
I’ve made the red thai curry recipe from your blog and it’s fabulous so can’t wait to try this one.
Keep up the great cooking!

magic bullet is mini chopper & blender. good for making small batch of chutneys, masala paste purees and even chopping. i purchased from flipkart. you can search on amazon or flipkart. btw i have the chinese version purchased in error. but still going good.